Comics! You love’em. I love’em. What’s not to love? Especially when we’ve got some solid bangers like Wonder Woman and Batwoman to celebrate this week.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Batman #19 for a pretty much perfect comic, kicking off the big new storyline with style and pizzazz.

Meanwhile, the Museum of the Uncanny Kickstarter campaign is in its final week! They’ve got a ways to go to hit their goal, but I know they can do it and I know you lovely readers will check out the campaign and give some support to some indie comic creators! That’s what we’re all about!

Double meanwhile, I splurged and bought myself Crimson Desert and I’m definitely enjoying the game. I still feel like I’m taking it slow, considering everything I’m seeing online. But it’s a fun action RPG with a big open world to explore! Beyond that, I’m enjoying Daredevil: Born Again, enjoying Maul: Shadow Lord and the season 3 finale of Shrinking was wonderful.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Batman #19, Batwoman #2 and Wonder Woman #32.

Absolute Batman #19
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: tom Napolitano

Big new storyline begins here! The Absolute Robins are coming! Longtime review readers will know that I’m a huge Robin fan, so I am very excited for this.

After a very sinister introduction of the Absolute Scarecrow, we check in on Batman going full throttle in Gotham City, trying out new equipment. Batman has become a symbol in the city, which is not what he wanted, and he’s reacting by throwing himself completely into the work, much to Alfred’s chagrin. He’s also working more actively with Harley Quinn and the Red Hood Gang. And when he finally sees a mostly recovered Waylon, who is ready to get back into the action, Bruce turns him down and walks away. He’s not in a good place.

And the hits just keep coming! Something bad happens to Jim Gordon, and the Scarecrow might be responsible! And Jack Grimm and Slade Wilson launch the Robin Program to take on Batman!

Comic Rating: 10/10 – Fantastic.

Phenomenal issue! As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m taking Scott Snyder’s Comics Writing 101 class, and this issue might as well be textbook. Snyder has said this is the biggest story arc to date, and this issue does a fine job of setting up everything we need to know, introducing the new characters/concepts, and keeping everything at a level where even new readers can jump in. Obviously it helps to know about Jack Grimm and everything else ahead of time. But this issue feels remarkably fresh and simple enough. Bruce’s current headspace is presented very well, with help from Alfred and Waylon, so good use of the supporting characters. And then the new obstacles are awesome and unique, in their own special ways. I’m going to get into spoilers now, so tread carefully.

I am loving Absolute Scarecrow and the Absolute Robins! Scarecrow is especially nasty and fun.

Scarecrow gets a great introduction in this issue, literally stepping out of a cornfield and using whatever weird, spooky powers he has to just ruin the lives of the couple of farmers he comes across. It’s a perfect sort of madness. Then he shows up to kill Jim Gordon and he’s almost just as spooky. We don’t know anything about him yet, but we know he’s real and he’s horrible and that should be pretty awesome.

Then we get the Absolute Robins! They’ve largely been spoiled (because that’s how Absolute Batman marketing works), but they’re still so nifty!

I’m a major Robin fan, and I don’t think I could be happier about the Absolute Robins. Turn them into a Power Rangers-esque squad of colorfully costumed heroes? With mechs and suits? Brilliant! Tackle all of the Robins at once? Brilliant! Do I hope that Batman is able to convince at least one of them to join his side when all is aid and done? Yes, I do. But for now, in their introduction, this is great! A force for good by Jack Grimm! Batman is working with Harley, Joker has the Robins; it’s a great twist to the dynamic and this is such a big, fun idea! You’ve got the small, singular, terrifying Scarecrow and then the big, colorful team of Robins! Such great parallels for this issue and this story arc.

And, of course, it usually goes without saying that Dragotta is defining the entire industry with his work on this title.

TL;DR: Big new introductions, shocking moments and an all around great set-up for a new story arc; Absolute Batman is still going as strong as ever this deep into its run.

Batwoman #2
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: DaNi
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Alright, two issues in and the artwork isn’t working as well for me anymore. Story is still pretty good.

Batwoman fights the Greek-themed soldiers of the bad guy and she’s quite violent about it. Her father, who is also staying in Greece, using his tech to find her and try to help her escape. But when his life is threatened, Batwoman pulls out a gun and shoots all the bad guys dead.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

Solid issue progression, in my opinion, hampered by this art choice. The art is good. There’s no denying that. But I don’t think it fits the story. This is going for a more straight forward, in my opinion, superhero piece. Batwoman fights some bad guys with a very henchman design of Greek soldiers. But the artwork is just too carefree and loose to really capture the action that’s supposed to be going on. I definitely couldn’t tell which of the henchmen was the main henchman, Slay, throughout the issue. The artwork works when we’re talking Batwoman looking majestic against the night sky, but it doesn’t really work for me for the straight forward superhero/character action.

The story itself remains strong. Batwoman goes full tilt fighting the bad guys, perhaps even going too far, right in front of her dad. And I like that her dad is still there to help her with logistics, to be the guy in the chair. That all mostly works for me. Part of the story does feel a little ungrounded, like we’re randomly in Greece fighting some more Cult of Crime baddies…but I’m here for it because I like Rucka on Batwoman.

Though, to be fully transparent…that’s totally Alice in the Batwoman costume, right? We’re supposed to clock that immediately, right? If that’s the case, that’s a solid twist to this new series.

TL;DR: I don’t feel like the artwork matches the story being told and that makes the comic a bit too loosey goosey for my tastes, but there’s still a strong story moving underneath.

Wonder Woman #32
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Despite the chatter I keep seeing on Reddit about Tom King’s Wonder Woman, I still love this series and this is another strong issue.

The Matriarch is being interviewed in the White House (which she has transformed into a princess castle!), and it’s an obvious propaganda puff piece. During the interview, the reader sees flashbacks to how she dealt with/killed some of the other classic heroes, and also one curious encounter with Mongul. But the interview is cut short when the Matriarch learns that Wonder Woman and Trinity have invaded Paradise Island. They fight their way through the guards and soldiers and break into the prison where Matriarch is keeping Superman…and a surprise prisoner!

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Another excellent chapter of the Wonder War. King is doing a fine job setting up the Matriarch as a real threat, while telling a nice little ongoing story with Wonder Woman and her daughter. I loved the big reveal that the White House is now a princess castle. That was a great hook. And the interview (and its dark ending) serve as a very good indicator of the world and the characters at play in this story. Personally, I forgot that the Sovereign was the Matriarch’s dad, but was glad for the reminder. Makes both her and the story all the stronger. I like the underlying critique of America at play in this story, even if it’s going a little bit above my head for now. I’m also not the biggest fan of the current narrators, but only because we don’t yet know who is speaking to us, so it loses some power. I hope the reveal is a nice pay off in the end.

So the surprise prisoner at the end if Steve Trevor, which makes sense. Nobody ever really stays dead, often not even in the same story by the same writer. You take characters out of the toy box when you start writing a comic and you put them back in the way you found them when you’re done. So Steve is back and hopefully it’ll lead to a stronger story. I’ll be curious to see if his return is all that relevant. I’m also very curious what Mongul was doing. Was he proposing a hook up with Matriarch? Why him, randomly? I guess we’ll find out. The Wonder Woman and Trinity segments were fun action.

TL;DR: The evil deepens in Wonder War in a nicely balanced issue.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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